Andy Harvey says: “I have worked and lived in Southwick for 20 years and have been involved in the life of this community in a number of ways. As well as teaching in a local school, I’ve played a part in actively supporting the local people and organisations. This has ranged from manning the bar at the Southwick Beer Festival, beach cleaning on Kingston Beach and volunteering at a Covid vaccination centre, to chairing a local residents’ association.

“I have been particularly focused on the need to provide affordable housing for local people, by way of both new developments and in the maintenance and refurbishment of existing housing stocks. It is this more than anything that has led me to stand as a candidate for Eastbrook. I believe that you are best represented by a local resident, who has daily contact with people in the ward, and has an ear for the concerns of those residents. My residents’ association experience means I have met many local people and know their experiences. I also have established contacts with Adur council and other agencies which will help me as we try to resolve the housing issues we have in the ward.

“If elected, I will make two promises to you – I will listen to you and I will be honest with you. I will work to improve things for you as individuals and for the community of Eastbrook. I will not have all the answers, but I will seek out those who do. As I have said to many of you on the doorstep in recent weeks, if I am to ask your permission to let me represent you locally, then I need to be available to you, I need to listen to your hopes and concerns, and I need to get you to trust that I will be straight with you about what we can and cannot achieve. We hear much that is negative, but it is my hope I can help bring the optimism for the future that this ward deserves.”